Following the
success of several other historical television series, including the American
Revolution-based “Turn,” a series about the Underground Railroad seemed a
sure-fire hit. And it was, to a certain degree, but that wasn’t enough to keep
it from being cancelled. Fans pointed at the cancellation of Netflix’s “The Get
Down” around the same time as reason to believe that the black narrative was a
deciding reason for the cancellation, but there are many other factors that
must be considered. Just as “Turn” was cancelled, “Underground” was popular
with fans and had decent reviews, but the high production costs were too much
to warrant continuing. When Sinclair Broadcast Group bought WGNA’s parent
company earlier this year, they canceled several of the channel’s most
successful shows, including their biggest hit, “Outsiders.” “Underground” was
another unfortunate casualty, though there have been rumors that it may find a
home at another network.

If it were to
come back for a third season, there is a clear path set out for the series, as
it began to align with actual historical events and characters in this second
season. While the first season merely set up the series with fictional
characters on a southern plantation that could represent any during that time,
season two begins to integrate the real history of the Underground Railroad and
its creators. Although the show mostly focuses on a central romance between a
field slave named Noah (Aldis Hodge) and house slave Rosalee (Jurnee
Smollett-Bell) and their efforts to escape to freedom, we are introduced to
Harriet Tubman (Aisha Hinds) at the end of season one.

Season two
integrates many of the characters from the first season into the lives of
historical figures, with Tubman at the forefront as the leader of the
Underground Railroad. Even when many of the characters from the first season
have little interaction with each other, they are all tied together by Tubman
and the actual historical events that eventually led to the Civil War. If a
third season were to happen, there is no doubt that it would focus on John
Brown and his raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, and season two even
features a brief cameo by series producer John Legend as Frederick Douglass.

If the
historical events and figures are a highlight of the series, some of the
melodrama from the fictional ones can be its downfall. There are rivalries and
villains that return from the first season which take an exorbitant amount of
the show’s time, often dragging out storylines that overstayed their welcome in
the first season. Among these is the return of August Pullman (Christopher
Meloni) and ruthless tracker who spent much of season one hunting down Rosalee
and Noah after they had escaped their plantation, even though his character had
already been replaced by an even crueler tracker named Patty Cannon (Sadie
Stratton). Meloni is a compelling actor to watch, but it feels as though the
show is uncertain what to do with his character this season.

As much as the
show often seems unable to let go of characters that don’t move the narrative
forward in any relevant manner, it is also unafraid to abruptly kill off ones
that seem far more significant. I won’t spoil any of season two’s surprises,
but they feel even more impactful after spending a full season with the
characters. Like with any series, there are characters which are more
interesting than others, and episodes that move the story along as well as
those that just drag out the narrative. Interestingly enough, some of the most
successful episodes of season two are the ones that aren’t afraid to slow down
the action. There is a standalone episode with Harriet Tubman simply telling
her story. It is simplistic and takes place all in one location in real time,
using only dialogue. Not only does it provide a compelling history lesson from
Tubman herself, but there are obvious correlations between history and current
affairs made. Any doubts about the intention of the writing in this episode
disappears when Tubman remarks on the fallacy of the southern efforts to “make America great”
while practically looking directly into the camera to address our current
president and his supporters.

As many
successful elements as there are in “Underground,” aspects of the show have
also created some mixed reactions. The biggest of these is the music choices
for the series, integrating modern hip-hop and contemporary R&B into the
soundtrack. There are times that this works quite well, but it can also be
quite jarring initially. And then there are times that it is flat out
distracting, taking away from the realism of the factually accurate events. The
music choices were enough to turn some viewers off from the show entirely.
While it may not be bad enough to dismiss the show completely, it rarely
elevates it in a way that justifies this bold decision. The criticisms must
have been heard after the first season, because these musical interruptions
seem far subtler in this second season.

As with the
first season, the second includes ten episodes, all of which are included in
this three disc set. The special features include deleted scenes and a gag
reel, none of which are entirely necessary. A featurette on the historical
accuracy of the show would have been fitting and greatly appreciated.